An Audience of How Many?

First Sunday of Lent
continuing with Matthew: Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus talks about almsgiving and prayer and fasting.

• Notice the difference in translation of verse 6:1:
“Be careful that you don't practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention” (CEB) 
“Beware of practicing your piety before others” (NRSV) 
“Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men” (NIV)...

Wait a minute, righteousness... we were talking about that not too long ago... in 5:20 your righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees'...

Same word, dikaioSUne, the condition acceptable to God, approved by God.

• We tend to be wrongly concerned... more concerned about what others think of us than our relationship with God.

I have a vegetarian friend who wrote a FB post about eating meat for a week to let her meat-eating friends know why she doesn't eat meat...
Which of your personal decisions do you need to justify?

She responded it was more of a personal test to satisfy herself than to justify herself to her friends.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whatever you do (eat or drink) do it for the glory of God.

How many are in your audience? Who are you living to please?

(Post-resurrection Jesus and Peter, do you love me? Peter: What about John? Jesus: what about him? Don't you worry about him, pay mind to you and me not him and me. John 21:20+)
Not our job to worry about others' righteousness but mind our own.

• Picture of a guy with spiky hair, eyeliner, jean halfway around butt; caption “Unless you're attracted to me why should you care how I look? Or why should I care what you think about how I look?”

I like to look decent but to an extent it doesn't matter except to one: my spouse, &I want to look good for her, I want to please her, she's the one whose opinion I care about... How many are in your audience?

1 Peter 2:12 Live so honorably among the nations that though they call you evildoers, by seeing your good works they may glorify God when he returns.

Pay no mind to what they they think; live so that they see and glorify. Audience of One (AOO).

• Jesus mentions three examples of righteous behavior that is to be between us and God: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Does not command that we do them, rather assumes that they're a part of our lives, you might say part of the balanced diet of our spiritual lives. Balanced in that we do them, and in that we do them AOO.

• Almsgiving. It's good for those in need. It's good for us to show that God is our priority not our money. It's righteous (dikaioSUne, acceptable & approved by God.)

• Prayer. In verse 6 in private, yet LP is plural, corporate prayer.
Confession or statement of faith. This is who we are.

• Fasting not merely abstinence from food, but as an act of devotion. Not point to you but you mind God, you fix your attention on God. &again, your righteousness is your business, theirs is theirs.

1 Peter 2:12 Live so honorably among the nations that though they call you evildoers, by seeing your good works they may glorify God when he returns.

Pay no mind to what they they think; live so that they see and glorify. AOO.
And 1 Cor 10:31 whatever you do (eat or drink) do it for the glory of God. AOO.

• Hymn 452 My Faith Looks Up to Thee